Career Counselling
by sasha1600
Summary: Tim and Abby's daughter Leigh is trying to decide what to do with her life. Set in the ‘Future Perfect’ universe. Notice: original characters.


**Career Counselling**

**Summary:** Leigh is trying to decide what to do with her life. Set in the 'Future Perfect' universe. Notice: original characters.

**Disclaimer:** They're not mine, I'm just playing with them

* * *

A/N: A while ago, I wrote a fluffy little fic called Future Perfect... wasn't sure where the idea came from, wasn't planning on doing anything more with it. Then draggon-flye asked if she could borrow one of the twins for an idea she had... and, apparently, my Muse is the kind of child who gets very interested in long-forgotten toys, as soon as someone else wants to play with them!

Anyway, to make a long story short, the plot bunnies have multiplied and a collaborative project has developed. Between the two of us, we've got about half a dozen stories mapped out (so far...); we'll be writing and posting stories separately, but they're all part of the same 'universe'. It's set at some amorphous time in the future, with draggon-flye's stories Our Family and Absolution as part of the backdrop to the family dynamic. It features two original characters – Kate and Leigh, the twin daughters of Abby and Tim – so if that doesn't appeal to you, please go find something else to read.

* * *

Gibbs looked up from his latest wood-working project, watching Abby clatter down his basement stairs. She was dragging a reluctant Leigh behind her, and both of them were already shouting – at him, and at each other.

'Gibbs! _Tell_ her! Tell her about the early mornings, and the crawling around in the mud, and not getting to choose what you wear, and having to eat crappy food, and having to be away from your family and not even go home at Christmas! And...'

'No, tell _her_ about serving your country, and doing something that makes a difference, and catching terrorists, and keeping insane warlords from slaughtering innocent people, and...'

'Hey! Would one of you like to tell _me_ what you're talking about?'

Abby glared at him, like he'd failed some sort of test by not immediately agreeing with her, and tossed a handful of paper in his face. He managed to catch one of the glossy brochures, and found himself staring at a familiar blue uniform. He scanned the collection of similar pamphlets strewn at his feet, and mentally ticked off the various branches of the military that were represented there. He looked up questioningly.

'_Tell_ her why she shouldn't _enlist_, Gibbs!'

'Why not? He did!'

Gibbs smirked at Leigh's glib argument.

'She's right, Abby. I don't regret my time in the Corps.'

'But is it the life you'd want for _her_? She's practically your grand-daughter, Gibbs... you really want people _shooting_ at her? At my baby?!'

Gibbs put a hand on each of her shoulders, trying to stop the frantic babbling.

'Abby, calm down. I'll talk to her, ok? Go home. I'll drop her back later.'

Abby looked at him sceptically.

'Are you just trying to get rid of me? Because you just changed your mind, and you never change your mind, and you did it really fast, so...'

'Abby! I didn't say I'd talk her out of enlisting. I said I'd talk to her. It's her decision, but it should be an _informed_ decision. So, yeah, I'll talk to her.'

'But...'

'Do you want me to talk to her, or not?'

'Yeah, but...'

'Then go home. _Let_ me talk to her.'

Gibbs dropped a kiss on her forehead and spun her around to face the stairs, giving her a little push. He draped an arm over his namesake's shoulder and together they followed her mother upstairs. He deposited Leigh at the kitchen table before walking Abby to the front door, returning a minute later.

'What do you want to drink?'

'Bourbon.'

Gibbs smiled, and put a glass of orange juice in front of her.

'So, let me tell you about life in the military...'

X X X

Leigh slammed the door open with her usual enthusiasm, toed off her sneakers without untying the laces, and dashed up the stairs two at a time. Her bedroom door was shutting before Abby made it to the front hallway, and a few seconds later the house was filled with the loud twang of her latest musical obsession. When you have a mom who listens to the kind of music Abby favours, teenage rebellion comes in the form of cowboys whining about broken hearts. Abby decided not to follow her daughter upstairs when she saw Gibbs crossing the front porch towards the still-open door, having been outpaced by Leigh's dash into the house.

'Well?'

'Hello to you too, Abs.'

'Don't 'hi' me, Gibbs. Did you talk her out of it?'

'She has agreed to give college a fair shot.'

'Oh, thank God.'

'She can still enlist _after_ college, Abby. All I did was persuade her to look at all her options before making a decision, and tell her that developing more advanced skills can only make her a better Marine.'

Abby glared at him.

'Well, at least that's four more years to change her mind.'

'It's _her_ decision, Abby. And there are worse career choices.'

'I can't _believe_ you want that kind of life for her!'

'It's what _she_ wants that matters, Abs. And if she wants to serve her country this way, you should be proud of her.'

'Why can't she serve her country with a nice, safe civil service desk job? Or be a… a… an air traffic controller? Or a… a park ranger?'

'Because she's practically a military brat, and you and Tim didn't raise her to take the easy way out.'

'So this is my fault? I did _too good_ a job?'

Gibbs pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

'Something like that.'

X X X

Two weeks later, Gibbs took his usual seat at the dinner table, trying hard to keep his face expressionless. Tim had told him that Leigh had cut her long hair; he hadn't mentioned the electric blue bangs. He was pretty sure that the 'tattoo' peaking out from the sleeve of her sweat-shirt when she reached her hand up to brush the hair from her face was one of those temporary fake ones, though. It seemed to glitter, which was a pretty strong sign it wasn't real. And he had a feeling he would have heard about it, if his sixteen-year-old namesake had managed to get herself an actual tattoo.

Katie was bubbling away about SATs and college applications. Apparently the information session at her school had included a wide variety of options, and now her best friend had her heart set on going to university in Scotland. Gibbs exchanged a silent look with Tim, both of them thinking fondly of Ducky and how pleased he would have been by that comment.

Plates of food were passed around the table, but Kate was too engrossed in her discussion of the relative merits of the schools she was considering to start eating. Finally, after about five minutes, Leigh interrupted the monologue.

'Well, I know where I'm applying.'

'Really? Where?' Abby asked, obviously grateful that she was still planning to _go_ to college.

'The Air Force Academy.'

Leigh gave no indication of expecting her comment to produce the reaction it did, calmly chewing on a green bean while her mother burst into near-hysterics, her father sputtered in surprise, and her honorary Uncle glared at her across the table.

'I thought you said you'd convinced her to go to college, Gibbs?!'

'I am going to college, Mama.'

'I mean a real college!'

'It _is_ a real college. A good one. And this way you and Daddy don't have to pay for my education…'

'But, honey, that's so far away. Why don't you think about the Naval Academy? That's just in Annapolis, we'd be able to see you more often.'

'Tim! Don't encourage her!'

'What?! It's a good school, and if she wants…'

'My baby is not going to…'

'Yes I am! This is what I want…'

'It makes sense, Abby. We both work for the Navy, why shouldn't she…'

'Daddy, I don't want to go to Annapolis, I want to join the Air Force!'

Gibbs finally broke into the conversation.

'The _Air Force_? What's wrong with the Marines?'

'I want to be an astronaut, Gibbs.'

She had recently dropped the 'Uncle' in an effort to be more 'grown up'. Since she didn't mean it disrespectfully, he didn't mind.

'Nothing says you have to be in the Air Force to be an astronaut. NASA's a civilian agency.'

'He's right, Leigh. You can get into the space programme just as well if you go the Naval Academy.'

'Or you could go to MIT with your sister and…'

'Well, yeah, but a whole bunch of astronauts went through the Air Force to get there, and pilot school is good preparation and stuff. And I like planes better than boats.'

Gibbs smirked, pretty sure that she was baiting him, expecting him to defend the numerous boats he'd built in his basement over the years, or to point out that the Navy mainly had _ships_. Come to think of it, there was probably a jibe in there as well about her father's notorious tendency to sea-sickness.

'Well, naval aviators have much cooler planes, you know.'

He saw the light in her eyes, and knew she hadn't considered that possibility.

'Why not apply to both, see where you get in?'

'I guess I can do that.'

Abby glared at the three of them before turning towards Kate.

'You're not thinking of doing something like this, are you?'

'Are you kidding? I'm looking for schools that don't have phys-ed requirements!'

The resulting laughter broke most of the tension, although Abby still looked decidedly unhappy. Gibbs reached over to tousle Kate's hair, winked at Leigh, and smiled as he watched Tim try to convince Abby not to worry until Leigh actually got accepted at one of the schools. Leigh overheard the comment, and looked across the table in horrified surprise, clearly not having considered the possibility of not getting in to her school of choice.

'Gibbs, I'll get in… won't I?'

'Well, you've got great grades, but they're both very competitive schools. We'll just have to wait and see.' Before she could react, he continued, with a mischievous wink at Abby, 'And there's always ROTC programmes…'

'GIBBS!'


End file.
